


Taking a Strange Path

by PKA



Category: Doctor Strange (2016), The Path (TV)
Genre: Angst, Cults, Curd Metaphors, First Meetings, Jealousy, Love at First Sight, M/M, Madancy AU, Minor Violence, StrangePath
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-13
Updated: 2017-01-29
Packaged: 2018-08-30 18:44:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 3,316
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8544889
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PKA/pseuds/PKA
Summary: Cal's beliefs are being put to the test.





	1. Chapter 1

Kaecilius, the man had said. What a strange name.

His yellow outfit stood out in the plain, wood-panelled room that was Cal's office – a stark contrast that looked straight out of a Kung Fu movie. But that was not the most eerie thing about him. His eyes were. Not the color – a warm amber tone, serious, yet soft – no, it was the skin around them. Some of it was simply gone, leaving a dark membrane in its stead, black and blue and pink like space itself. The remaining skin looked cracked, or dried up maybe, like curd too long out of the fridge. Green, almost like snake scales. He looked otherworldly, as if he had seen something forbidden.

Cal felt safe next to him.

He had cried for help and help had come. He had doubted; he had lost hope in the Light. He had been drunk for much of the past few days, but he knew this was real. Someone had been sent to guide him through the darkest of times, to help him ascend further.

The stranger strolled around the room, looking out the window or at random pieces of paper, before he stopped behind Cal’s desk in front of the wooden eye. He examined it with a frown. The red symbol on his forehead crinkled.

»The Third Eye? Or the Eye of Agamotto?« he asked.

»The what of what?«

Kaecilius turned to look at him. There was an energy about him – a sparkle in the brown of his eyes that spoke of deep wisdom. He stepped closer.

»You have the eye as your symbol and yet you see nothing.«

»I have strayed from the righteous path,« Cal admitted. »But I wish to understand. I wish to reach the Garden.«

»Then you shall.«

Kaecilius extended a hand and touched Cal's forehead. Something happened and at first Cal thought it was the touch itself that provoked the reaction of his body. His belly fluttered; he felt light as a feather, detached from his physical limitations. As if Kaecilius and he had a special sort of connection. But then he realized that it was something else entirely – that he was literally floating in the air, away from his body. He saw himself fall in slow motion.

»Your mind is open to the vastness of space, but your head filled with wrong ideas, crafted by human hand.« Kaecilius' voice rang in his head and his words were like a melody, drawing Cal in.  
He was pushed back, or so it felt, and suddenly he found himself rushing through open space, his body left behind in Upstate New York. Cal screamed and cried and spun round and round; left the earth, flew toward the moon, further still, into the galaxy. No ladder to hold on to. He saw colors and shapes, inconceivable pictures that extended everything he had ever thought possible. A hidden door opened in his mind and he felt knowledge flood him like ocean waves. And at the end of it all, there was no light – there was darkness.

Cal had led so many into the Light. Prisoners, caught in their limited versions of reality. And now his situation was the very same. In the back of his head, Plato asked if he would condemn Kaecilius as Satan himself, accuse him of lying and retreat back into the cave.

Another touch and he was brought back into reality. Cal was on his knees in front of Kaecilius – his body had hit the floor without his presence. His own body felt like a prison now, strange and ill-fitting like a pair of shoes that had become too small. Kaecilius thumbed his cheek, wiping away the tears that were falling silently from his eyes in astonished wonder.

»See?« he asked.

His touch felt grounding. Cal never wanted it to end. He looked up at the stranger and swore allegiance right there.

»Yes.«


	2. Chapter 2

The Zealot's hideout was an abandoned church. The irony of that was not lost on Cal.

He was not the only new recruit. Kaecilius had gathered many, preparing to strike against the Ancient One and her doctrine of lies in full force. The hall had filled with almost 30 people – young and old, men and women. Chatter filled the sacred halls and people enjoyed their dinner, no matter how terrible it was.

The easiness of it reminded Cal of home.

A lot of things made sense, now that he was here. He had learned so much in so little time and yet he was just beginning to understand the truth, to let go of his false beliefs. Kaecilius had introduced him to the concept of magic - he had proven to be a good and almost gentle teacher, patient and kind. Or perhaps Cal was just trying very hard to impress him.

He liked the glint in Kaecilius' eyes when he succeeded, the small smile that graced his face, just for Cal. He didn't smile often and never like that when they were amongst other people.

»Penny for your thoughts,« someone said next to him. Cal flinched, feeling caught in the act. Had he been staring again?

Early on, he had 'befriended' one of the Zealots to gather information and now he was met with familiar mocking blue eyes that had come into contact with the Book of Cagliostro.

»Don't worry,« the Zealot told him, »We'd all like to be Kaecilius from time to time.«

Cal frowned and looked at their leader again. He was talking with one of the women, another new recruit. A pretty, young thing – blonde and slender and easily impressed. She seemed excited, giggling like a little schoolgirl. He gave her one of his dishonest smiles.

»Why?« Cal asked.

The Zealot next to him laughed. »What, you haven't figured it out yet?«

»Figured out what?«

In that moment, Kaecilius rose. The woman took his hand and tried to lead him out of the room. Kaecilius hesitated for a moment.

As if burned by the sight, Cal looked back to the Zealot, who met his gaze with a cocked eyebrow and a dirty grin on his face.

»Oh,« Cal said. He felt very stupid.

The Zealot sighed, before taking a swig from his bottle of beer. Suddenly, the bottle looked very inviting.

»Unfair, isn't it? Some hotties among them, but they fly to him as if he were Danish honey,« the Zealot said.

»He is our master,« Cal said numbly. And then, because he couldn't help himself, »Does he take a different one each time?«

»Yeah. He's not one for emotional attachments, after what happened to him.«

Cal frowned. Kaecilius’ past was still a mystery to him. The man himself was a mystery to him. »What happened to him?«

»You have to ask him that yourself,« the Zealot said, bored with the conversation already.

Cal found his gaze drawn back to Kaecilius, who was still standing among the crowd, apparently indecisive, barely listening to the words of the woman still holding his hand. He looked around the room once, in search of something. He met Cal's eyes for a fraction of a second before he followed the woman quietly out of the room.


	3. Chapter 3

»You have a lot of anger pent up inside of you. It's blocking your true potential, clouding your mind. You have to learn how to contain it, to make use of it in battle.«

Cal had not had a private training lesson with Kaecilius in quite a while. There hadn't been any progress in his development lately, Cal's mind occupied by the knowledge of Kaecilius' nightly activities.

It shouldn't have bothered him that much. He thought about Mary, about how easy it had been to use her for his own amusement, as a distraction. He wondered what kind of distraction Kaecilius needed.

Or perhaps it was just another way of binding the women to him, to make them pliable to his ideology. Needless to say, it was working. They were strong in numbers now and soon, they would attack the London Sanctum, take down the Sorcerer Supreme bit by bit.

Kaecilius came closer and handed him a cup of tea, which Cal gratefully accepted. This had become a custom too – a mutual appreciation of the beverage. Kaecilius stepped away again to open a portal – but not a normal one. This one looked like splinters of glass, morphed together in an unreal form.

»The Mirror Dimension,« his leader explained once they walked through it. »Our reality is unaffected by this place. Here you'll learn how to warp reality.«

A crystal prison.

»Do you intend to keep me here, until I learn to behave?«

Kaecilius gifted him with one of his rare smiles. »You are not a dog that needs to be housebroken. This is merely an offer.«

Cal took a sip of tea. Kaecilius came closer again.

»Passion and rage are good, during a fight. Get the blood pumping, make you stronger. But you need to control your emotions.« A small pause while Kaecilius studied him. »Do you want to talk about what's bothering you?«

Cal remembered the audio books he used to listen to, how to control his body language. He managed to laugh – it didn't sound panicked. »No.«

A small part of him wanted to try and trade information - ask him about what had happened in his past. Get to know him better. That part was easily silenced.

Kaecilius took the cup of tea from his hands and their fingers brushed, just for a second. It felt electrifying, like the first time he had touched him, but this time his spectral form was not separated from his body. Cal forced himself to breathe evenly.

»Then we'll have to use another method.«

Kaecilius drew his weapons – not his usual Scythe Daggers, but versions made from wood. Weapons made for training. His body language changed in seconds – from relaxed to predatory; back straight, eyes focused.

»Summon your weapon,« Kaecilius commanded.

Cal did without a moment's hesitation.

»You are physically strong, but your mind still needs adjustments,« Kaecilius explained. »Focus. Focus on what is important in this moment. Channel your wrath.«

Cal focused – on Kaecilius' movements, on the grace of his body, on the glint of his eyes, on the way his hair whipped around while he stalked him. Cal's magic rod vanished into thin air and Kaecilius' strike hit him – gently, but without fail.

He found himself lying on the floor, Kaecilius standing victoriously above him, like a god.

Cal _was_ angry. Cal _wanted_ to lash out. But not at him. Kaecilius made him feel strangely calm. »Why do you even bother with me?«

»Because I was once like you. An alcoholic, weighed down by my grief. Angry. Violent. Unfocused. I'm not the heretic, making false promises of enlightenment. Unlike her, I have no secrets and I will offer you the truth: time is the enemy, Mr. Roberts – and Dormammu is showing us a way out of it, into a dimension without pain, without anger – without death. A place where we can be together. All of us. That is the goal you should strive for.«

A tang of sadness, a longing for something Cal couldn't name. The knowledge that something had broken inside his master, the fear that it couldn't be repaired.

Kaecilius didn't notice. »We will not leave here until you show me what you are capable of.«

Kaecilius extended his hand to help him up. It took Cal a few seconds to grab it, to let himself be pulled up.


	4. Chapter 4

»What's your fucking problem with me?!« Cal shouted, yanking the door open and storming into Kaecilius' private chambers.

Cal had just come back from a recruiting mission to find that, in his absence, everybody had been changed. All of the Zealots had come into contact with Dormammu, his mark painted proudly on their foreheads, their eyes irrevocably different. They had seen wisdom. All except Cal.

Kaecilius turned around slowly, not bothered by Cal's shouting. It infuriated him further.

»Do you still think you can't trust me? That I'm a worthless piece of shit, full of anger?«

»You _are_ angry, are you not?« Kaecilius said, entirely calm.

»I am fucking _furious_! Everyone, Master Kaecilius? Am I the only one that has been left out because I'm the only one you didn't fuck?!«

A hint of a smile crossed Kaecilius' face, but it looked sad. »As much as I'd like to discuss your jealousy, I'm afraid you must excuse me. We are shortly departing to attack the Sanctum in Hong Kong.«

That information took Cal aback, calling a sudden halt to his anger. »Already? B-but...«

Kaecilius strolled past him, seemingly content to let him stand there, tension unresolved. He was almost out of the door when Cal found his words.

»You can't!«

»Oh?« Kaecilius turned around again and came closer. He wasn't much larger than Cal, but his presence was intimidating. If he wanted to, he could look frightening. He wanted to now. »I can and I will. The Masters of the Mystic Arts are weakened. The Ancient One is dead. We have to strike, now that the numbers are in our favor.«

»Strange almost captured, almost killed you last time - _clearly_ your mind is occupied with other things! This is not the time!«

Kaecilius sighed and stepped away. At first, Cal thought he wanted to leave without another word, but he simply closed the door Cal had so carelessly thrown open.

»I lost many Zealots during this war,« he said, hand still on the doorknob, back still facing Cal. »People I called companions - friends. I will lose more today. It would be a lie to say that this does not faze me.«

»Each of us knows what it is we're fighting for. Each of us knows the danger,« Cal said. His rage still seethed beneath the surface, but for now, he could contain it. Seeing his master so concerned cooled his blood. »Let us fight for you. Let... let me fight for you.«

»Before I studied the magical arts under the rule of the Ancient One, I was a married man,« Kaecilius explained. Finally, he turned around. His dark eyes gleamed with unshed tears, his mouth drawn into a tight line. »My wife and son died and after that I went in search for a way to bring them back.«

Cal found himself taking a step forward involuntarily. »Dormammu can bring them back.«

Kaecilius nodded. »But I cannot... bear to see another person that means the world to me die.«

Cal opened his mouth before he thought of an answer. He closed it again when he didn't find any suitable words, afraid that a different, embarrassing sound would slip out. The rest of his anger slipped away – no room in his body anymore for something beside wonder and shock and amazement.

He took another step forward. Kaecilius' lower lip was trembling slightly and he avoided eye contact. »I apologize. It's not my place to say such things, especially not now. I merely wished to tell you why you were left out. It has nothing to do with your capabilities to fight – you have proven to be talented and fond of learning and-«

»Shut up.«

Kaecilius looked up again. From so close, his eyes seemed even more otherworldly. He was a beautiful man with his European face and his long, silvery hair, combed into a tidy hairstyle. But something was wrong about him, something Cal had already noticed before.

»I wish I could have seen you before. When you were still-«

»Human?«

» _Happy_.«

Kaecilius' face changed subtly, his brow furrowing, his mouth falling open just a little. Something crumbled between them – longing and denial made room for bittersweet understanding. A hand reached out to caress Cal's face, overcoming the last bit of distance, exploring brows and eyes, nose and lips, before resting on his cheek.

Cal placed his hand above Kaecilius', holding onto his fingers. Sadness filled him and he didn't know why.

»Please don't go,« he whispered, voice barely coming out at all. They were standing at a crossing and Kaecilius was about to go in the wrong direction. »Not without me, at least.«

He would go with him – fail with him. There was another, a better way, Cal knew, but Kaecilius was too far gone to see the light.

Kaecilius leaned forward and placed a shy kiss on his cheek. Feather-light, yet hot on Cal's skin. It lingered still when Kaecilius withdrew again and pressed his forehead against Cal's, their noses brushing, mouths just inches apart, warm breath hitting his parted lips, waiting for contact.

»I'm sorry,« Kaecilius said and Cal's heart reached out to him.

And then his warmth was gone.


	5. Chapter 5

Cal was alone.

The whole hideout was empty. Everyone was gone, all of the Zealots, supporting Kaecilius in his plan to destroy the last of the Sanctums.

He wouldn't take it. He wouldn't sit here idly, waiting for them to come back – if they did come back at all. Cal had no idea what would happen if the Dark Dimension became reality. If the world as he knew it would be destroyed, if he would be destroyed. He didn't want to spend his last hours sitting by himself, doing nothing but pitying himself. His mind itched for the obfuscation that only booze could provide, but Cal had come a long way since his last relapse. His past was filled with bad decisions, acts that ultimately led him to lose everything he ever stood for, everything he ever wanted. It would not happen again.

It took a while to find the pages Kaecilius had ripped out of the Book of Cagliostro. He had hidden them well among his personal things. Cal did his best not to look at the picture of his former wife too closely, focusing on the destroyed book instead. Getting inside the meaning of the pages was troublesome, but after a while, he managed. It might be possible to perform the ritual by himself – bargain with Dormammu to make him into one of his minions too, reject Kaecilius' wish to remain a mere mortal and join him in his fight.

He wondered what would happen if they succeeded. If they would become immortal together. If they would die together.

He could still feel the kiss against his cheek, Kaecilius' warm hands on his face, his soft voice when he apologized.

The pages crumpled in his hand, clenched into a fist his body had made without his mind's volition. Anger seized him, mixing with the fear of never seeing Kaecilius again.

Deep breaths, one after another. Old techniques to calm down, to channel the Light into his body.

The Light.

And with that, everything clicked into place.

How stupid he had been all along. The Light, the Dark. How stupid to rush into another doctrine instantly, to make the same mistakes again and again. He didn't care anymore – not for the people he had recruited for his Master, not for the power it had given him to be the leader of a religious group. All he cared for now was the man that had saved him, the man who was now about to make the same mistake Cal had done before him, led by hatred and arrogance and the desire to turn back time, when all they truly needed for happiness was each other.

His head clear of any doubts, Cal opened a portal, the pages of the Book of Cagliostro balled tightly into the fist of his hand. He stepped through it with the knowledge that what he was about to do was right. A moment later, he found himself in front of an unremarkable building in a backstreet of a crowded city at the other side of the planet, banging at a door impatiently. When a green-robed man opened, he didn't waste any precious seconds before he spoke.

»I have to talk to Doctor Strange.«

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to [ fragile-teacup ](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Mrs_Gene_Hunt/pseuds/fragile-teacup/)for beta-ing!
> 
> This fic is probably going to have six or seven chapters. : )
> 
> Come visit me on my [ tumblr ](http://www.pka42.tumblr.com/)!


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